Over 350,000 sign petition calling for WHO chief’s resignation

[fresh]

Is it right to put this news here?? If not, PL correct me. Thanks.

https://www.yerepouni-news.com/2020/02/11/over-350000-sign-petition-calling-for-who-chiefs-resignation/

 

[dimreepr]

Quote

How and when the virus infected the first person, possibly spreading from an animal, in the Chinese city of Wuhan is still unclear. But when the threat was brought to the attention of China’s authorities in December and then the world, Ghebreyesus remained hesitant to declare a global health emergency ― until Jan. 31.

He didnt have all the information, so why would he???

Edited February 12, 2020 by dimreepr

[Strange]

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Moderator Note

I don't think this qualifies as Science News. Moving the The Lounge for more general discussion.

 

[MigL]

Maybe the Chinese Government and Medical Ministry should resign.
For not releasing information sooner, which could have stopped the spread of the virus.

The WHO only had whatever information the Chinese chose to release.

[CharonY]

14 hours ago, MigL said:

Maybe the Chinese Government and Medical Ministry should resign.
For not releasing information sooner, which could have stopped the spread of the virus.

The WHO only had whatever information the Chinese chose to release.

From what I have read, a significant part of the delay was caused by the bureaucratic structure of the Chinese system. I.e. before committing to official announcements and rather extreme measures (which simply could not happen in Western countries). The reporting system is multi-layered, and effects have to be confirmed bottom up, as well as top-down. But each layer has a different reporting authority. For example local authorities can only provide the actual numbers of infections, but they did not had the capabilities to test. The Chinese CDC can confirm cases and share with national and provincial health authorities. However, the CCDC has no reporting authority to the public. So getting the whole picture is, at best, cumbersome. In addition it appears that there was a screw-up on the local level who did not provide continuous information to the CCDC which may have led the higher authorities to see it as more containable as it was. And of course as a whole the Chinese system likes to err on the side of secrecy and stability.

So there is an inherent inefficiency in the authoritarian system, which also facilitates (if not encourages) deception. But yes, as for OP, there is no indication of any wrongdoing from the WHO.